


One is the Loneliest Number

by dreamerinfic



Series: Old Friends, New Places [2]
Category: The Magicians (TV), The Magicians - Lev Grossman
Genre: Alternate Season/Series 05, Babysitting, Chef Eliot, Dinner Party, Domestic Fluff, Established Relationship, F/M, First Meetings, Grouchy Penny, M/M, Post-Season/Series 04, Quentin Coldwater Lives
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-17
Updated: 2020-10-17
Packaged: 2021-03-09 01:00:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,970
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27066043
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dreamerinfic/pseuds/dreamerinfic
Summary: Quentin and Eliot are having Quentin & Julia’s old friend James over for dinner...Julia and Penny are having a date night without the baby. Then the babysitter shows up, and things heat up. But maybe more than will come out of this dinner party than just a good time.Follow-up story to The Change I See in You, but can be read as a stand alone story as well.
Relationships: 23rd Timeline William "Penny" Adiyodi/Julia Wicker, Quentin Coldwater/Eliot Waugh
Series: Old Friends, New Places [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1975384
Comments: 3
Kudos: 16





	One is the Loneliest Number

Eliot sat on the couch with Quentin sipping a cocktail and sliding his hand through his hair. The silky, brown strands defied explanation since Eliot knew from experience Quentin never conditioned, in fact beyond showering every few days he never seemed to practice any kind of regular grooming techniques. Yet his hair always seemed to be shiny, smooth, and mouth wateringly pettable. It was one of Eliot’s favorite pastimes. 

“Where do you want to go tonight, baby?” he asked, interrupting Quentin’s lesson planning for tomorrow’s class. 

“Hmmmm?” Quentin mumbled as he scribbled in the notebook held in his lap. 

“Q, James is going to be here in a bit. We promised we’d feed him and show him a good time. I know you don’t like to admit it, but that does usually involve going out somewhere.”

“I thought you were going to cook something,” Quentin said without looking up. 

Eliot rolled his eyes, “I’m cooking dinner, there’s Cornish game hens in the oven as we speak. But after…I was thinking a club…maybe Barracuda?”

“That’s a queer club.”

“Uh…in case you haven’t noticed,” he pulled on Quentin’s hair tipping his head back so he could run his tongue over his jaw line. 

“James is straight, El. And you know I hate clubs. I’d rather just…I don’t know…stay here.”

“Straight people can go to queer places, they’re not exclusive or anything.” He nuzzled into his neck and began to place open mouthed kisses against his pulse point. 

Quentin’s head fell to the side giving Eliot better access as the notebook fell off his lap. “We could just…stay here…like this, couldn’t we?”

Eliot chuckled against Quentin’s pale skin, “Not sure that your old friend would be entertained by watching us make out all night...But I’m game if he is…You know I love voyeurism on occasion.”

Quentin turned to face him with a smirk, “Not what I had in mind.”

Eliot gave him a playful squeeze and shook his head, “No?” Quentin smiled and pecked him on the lips before shaking his head, “No.” Eliot’s hazel eyes rolled dramatically and huffed a dramatic sigh, “Fine…but I bet you’d like it.” 

Quentin stroked his hand over Eliot’s perfect cheekbone, “you know I’m open to try pretty much any kink you want, but when they involve actual people from my past…let’s just leave those alone, K? “

Eliot’s thumb stroked over the plush softness of Quentin’s lower lip and the look in his eyes darkened, “Baby, if you say kink again with those sinful lips we can forget dinner and the club entirely.”

As Quentin’s lips parted to speak a noise drew their attention. Two heads swung towards the clock just as Fen tumbled out into the room.

“Oh look honey, my wife’s home.”

Quentin ignored Eliot’s jibe and ran to help Fen up from the heap she had fallen into on the floor. “You ok, Fen?”

“Oh yeah, that clock always gets me. I can’t seem to learn how to step through it gracefully.”

“Cause that would, you know, require grace,” Eliot intoned. 

Quentin rolled his eyes and Fen gave him a sheepish look. “I hear you guys are going out tonight. Doing anything fun?”

Quentin’s head turned of it’s own volition towards Eliot and their eyes locked. Quentin ran his tongue over his lower lip and reluctantly turned back to answer Fen’s question, “Just dinner here and then maybe out somewhere with my friend James.”

“Oooh, is Eliot cooking? Is that what smells so good? Penny and Julia are having a date night. They asked me to babysit. Maybe I could have dinner with you?” 

Quentin nodded readily, “Yeah Fen, that’d be great.”

Eliot looked offended, “You’re babysitting? Q and I live here 24/7 and have never been trusted with watching that child.”

Fen shrugged, “I don’t know…I got a bunny a few hours ago.”

Just then the doorbell rang and Quentin left Eliot staring down a rumpled Fen to make his way to the door. Before he could answer it Penny came into the room and Eliot turned to face him, “Looks like your babysitter is here. I guess Q and I don’t rate huh? I really should’ve suspected as much, but I just thought maybe Julia was being overprotective. Now I see it must be personal.”

“You’re not on the approved list,” Penny muttered as he straightened the scarf around his neck. 

Quentin rolled his eyes and shook his head before at last opening the door to their visitor, “Hey James,” he greeted as he shook his hand warmly. “Come on in, dinner’s almost done.”

“Hate to break it to you but making out with Coldwater on the couch while my kid sleeps in the other room doesn’t constitute babysitting,” Penny stated hotly as Quentin led James into the room. 

“You know Quentin and I have raised a child quite successfully in an alternate timeline, so we do actually have more experience in this department than both you and Julia.”

Penny rolled his eyes, “Yeah, and if I recall the story correctly Quentin had a wife to do the whole baby thing with while you guys were in Fillory.”

“Only for the first four years,” Quentin muttered under his breath. James turned his head to study him curiously. 

“Look I didn’t know you very well before, we weren’t friends in my timeline,” Penny started. 

“Shocking,” Eliot said with a raise of his eyebrows.

“But since I’ve been here in this timeline I’ve seen you get possessed by an evil god, kill people for fun, and drink yourself into a stupor to avoid dealing with the aftermath.”

“Penny,” Quentin warned.

“So pardon me if I don’t trust you and your little boy toy here to babysit my child like responsible, regular adults.”

“What did you just call me?” Quentin bristled as Eliot spoke at the same time with an acidly calm voice, “Pardon me for being fucked up by circumstances beyond my control.”

“Hey man, I got news for you…we’re all fucked up. Not one of us is unscathed by the shit we deal with. Magic comes from pain…so yeah…fucking magicians, right. But you’re still not on the approved list to watch Hope without Julia or I here.”

Eliot looked unimpressed and waved a dismissive hand, “Whatever, I’ll talk it over with Julia later. I’m sure she’ll see reason. And even you’re not deluded enough to think that you have total control over the parenting of Julia’s child.” He glanced in Quentin’s direction and then narrowed his hazel eyes on Penny, suddenly kingly in his stance as he looked down on the traveler with a complete air of command, “Somewhere in that epic rant you used the words ‘boy toy’. Don’t. Do That. Ever Again. It reeks of 80’s homophobia.”

“Whatever man,” Penny said under his breath as he turned back towards his bedroom, “Julia, let’s get out of here before I have to punch someone, please.”

Quentin ran a hand through his hair in frustration, “Christ, we need a therapist on staff here or something.”

“What’s a therapist?” Fen asked innocently. 

Every eye in the room swung to her, since they’d all forgotten she was even there. “Uhhh,” Quentin faltered. Eliot cleared his throat and leveled a serious look at her, “Someone who pretends to care and listen to your problems and then tells you all the things that are wrong with you and what will fix them. Of course, it never works so…jokes on us.”

“Oh,” Fen nodded. “Sounds like questing creatures back home.”

An errant giggle slipped past Eliot’s lips, “Yes, it does indeed Fen…questing creatures are exactly like that.” 

“Hey James,” Julia greeted coming into the room and kissing him lightly on the cheek. “Hope the drama here isn’t too much for you. Just ignore them, they’re always like this. Sorry you have to be exposed to the fighting…Penny can be a little grumpy.” 

Quentin made a scoffing sound as he pushed past her and went to wrap his arms around Eliot. 

“Uh…no worries,” James scanned the room and blinked a few times as if weighing those in the room before settling back on Julia. “It’s fine. I’m just happy to be invited to your home and get to know my old friends again.”

Julia gave him a sideways smirk, “That’s nice, but you may not feel like that after a few times of dealing with us. Trouble seems to find us magicians, and we’re not exactly considered a stable bunch.” 

James shrugged in response and followed her further into the sitting area. She went to Fen and gave her a warm hug. 

“Thank you for coming all the way from Fillory for this, Fen.”

“You know how much I love babies…I can’t wait to spend some quality time with little HQ,” Fen bubbled with excitement.

“You’ve got your phone right, and it’s got reception on earth?”

Fen nodded. 

“Ok,” Julia turned to look at Eliot and Quentin. “These two will be here for at least part of the evening if you need them. Emergency numbers are on the fridge door. You have my number and Penny’s right?”

“Yes, Julia. Everything will be fine. I had lots of little brothers and sisters growing up. I know all about babies. I mean, it can’t be that much different on Fillory…babies are babies. And Quentin and Eliot had Teddy, so they’ll be fine too.” She shot them an understanding look and Quentin smiled back at her softly. 

“I know…Ok…I trust you.” She looked to where Eliot and Quentin were still wrapped around each other, “I trust you too. Just…don’t get into any trouble, ok…Oh, and Fen, no knives around the baby.” Fen looked confused but nodded obediently. 

Julia turned to James, “This is Fen, she’s a friend of ours from Fillory. Fen, this is James, he’s a friend of mine and Q’s from when we were kids. He’s not a magician. But he knows about us.”

Fen gave him an open smile and shook his hand. “Very nice to meet you, James. Quentin and Julia are great people. I’m sure if you’re a friend of theirs you’re special as well, magician or not.”

James’ eyes widened and he felt a smile spread across his lips as he nodded his thanks. 

“Oh…and this is my boyfriend, Penny,” Julia gestured to the man as he strode purposefully into the room. “What up?” Penny nodded briefly before reaching Julia’s side. “You ready?” he asked. She nodded up at him. Then he gripped her hand and they blinked out of existence. 

James started and looked around in a slight panic. “Where’d they go…Whoah…what just happened?”

“Oh,” Quentin answered hurriedly, “He’s a traveler, it’s ok…they’ve just left for their date night.” 

Eliot took a deep breath and let it out, “Hear that?” 

“What?” Quentin said looking around the penthouse. 

“Blessed silence…the Penny tornado has passed.”

Quentin let out a snort of laughter, “Hey, I’m usually the one he’s fighting with so…you know, nice change of pace. He didn’t have to hit below the belt with that comment about the possession and the drinking.” Quentin went up on his toes to place a kiss on Eliot’s lips. 

“Yeah well…at least my boy toy was there to defend me.” Quentin rolled his eyes. “You know, I might actually like that term…when used in the proper setting of course. Maybe I should start using it.” He grinned down into Quentin’s furiously blushing face. 

Quentin playfully pushed him away, “Go finish dinner, you.”

Eliot gave a little wave to James and Fen as he went, “Just going to be domestic and check on the food, folks. Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”

“There’s literally nothing you wouldn’t do,” Fen observed in a joking tone. 

Quentin sat down across from James and feigned a thoughtful expression, “Uh…stay sober.”

Fen pointed her finger at him and nodded, “Good one.” She looked down at her Fillorian finery and made a little frustrated noise. “I’m just going to go to my room and change into earth clothes. Can you listen for the baby for me?”

Quentin nodded. 

James watched her go with a perplexed look on his face. Finally he turned to Quentin, “Earth clothes?”

“Yeah…so…Fillory is real. It’s actually another planet. We’ve all traveled there, it’s a whole long story…but Fen is Fillorian.”

His eyes widened, but James had expected some unexplainable things to happen around his old friends, since magic was real anything was possible. “So…uh…how did she get here?”

“Oh…the clock. It’s a portal to Fillory. The door opens into a tree on the other side in a Fillorian forest, close to Castle Whitespire. That’s where Fen lives…and us too, when we’re there. We’re…well, we were…kings and queens of Fillory. Our friends, Margo and Josh still live there. She’s High King.”

“As I was before I was rudely deposed in a coupe and then lost an election. But que sera sera,” Eliot lamented as he swept in from the kitchen. 

Quentin laughed, “It’s ok El…you’re still my High King.”

“I better be, Babycakes,” he said as he sat down next to him and laid a hand on his thigh. “Dinner’s almost done, it’ll just be a few more minutes. Sorry for the argument earlier, James. I’m usually a host extraordinaire and I feel like a bit of a failure for not having everything under control when you arrived.”

James waved him off, “It’s fine. I don’t expect perfection. I just want to be a part of your world. If that means arguments and portals to another planet,” James shrugged, “it’s all part of it.”

Eliot gave him a serious nod, “Still…I apologize for my rudeness.”

James nodded and gave a little laugh, “You really are royalty, aren’t you? That was such a diplomatic gesture…very regal.”

Quentin scoffed, “Oh, you should hear the imperiousness sometimes.” He shook his head, “High King in his blood.”

Eliot knocked their shoulders together, “It makes sense though.”

Quentin nodded, “So much sense.”

Fen walked in wearing jeans and a rose colored shirt with flowing sleeves. Eliot grinned at her, “More comfortable?”

“Yes. It’s been a long day. Margo’s in such a bad mood. She’s yelling at everyone, including me. Josh is hiding in his room and they haven’t been sleeping together. Rafe keeps coming to me asking me to talk to her about things. But you know how she is…there’s no calming her down…Unless you’re you.”

Eliot gave her an understanding look, but stayed silent. She sighed, “I’m going to go check on the baby before dinner.” 

“She wants you to go back to Fillory with her,” Quentin observed quietly after Fen had left the room again.

“Yep,” Eliot answered without looking at him.

“Eliot…”

“We’ll talk about it later, Q,” he said as he rose from the couch. “Visit with your friend. I’m going to take dinner out of the oven and put it together. I’ll call you when the table’s set.”

Quentin sighed and looked up at James, “Touchy subject. He loves it there. It was his home when he was king…but since…since…uh,” Quentin lapsed into a tense silence, not able to put the event into words. 

“Since he got possessed,” James supplied, drawing from the overheard argument that Penny had made.

Quentin’s eyes dropped shut, “Yeah…he’s more fragile. He doesn’t like to sleep alone, sometimes there are nightmares, memories of what the thing inside him did. It’s why he lapsed back into his addictions for a while. He’s still in recovery…It can be hard.”

James sighed and shook his head, “You guys really have dealt with some heavy stuff. How do you manage the psychological impact of it all?”

Quentin smirked, “Magician therapists…And a lot of bad coping mechanisms…like alcohol, chain smoking, sex, drugs…you know, the rock & roll magician lifestyle.”

James laughed even as Quentin took out a pack of cigarettes and cocked his head towards the balcony, “You want to join me?”

Quentin slid the door open and stepped into the cool night air. James marveled at the view as he joined him. He watched Quentin light up his cigarette with a wave of his hand and swallowed hard. I thought you were joking about that rock & roll lifestyle…now I see, maybe not.

Quentin took a deep drag and gave James a sidelong look, “yeah…maybe not.”’ 

“Quentin…are you ok?”

Quentin shrugged and took a drag on his cigarette, “I don’t know…what’s ok? I know I’m more ok than I used to be.”

James shot him a concerned look, “Do you still have depressive episodes? Do you take your medication?”

Quentin nodded, “It’s not something that goes away just because you grow up. They’re still there. They can hit out of nowhere. I still take meds, I have a therapist that knows about magic…and I have Eliot. He makes things better. We get through it all together.”

“You’re very lucky.”

Quentin chuckled, “lucky to have depressive episodes that make it impossible to get out of bed and make me borderline suicidal?”

James shook his head, “No, lucky to have found someone you can depend on.”

Quentin grinned at him as he put out his cigarette. “Yeah…that is pretty amazing. So how’s life out there in the real world. Finance as exciting as you thought it would be?”

James let out a harsh laugh, “No…not at all. I mean, it pays the bills. But it’s nothing special. It’s just a job. I wish I could just walk away, but…people like me don’t get that luxury.”

Quentin shrugged, “Hey, you never know. One thing I’ve learned over the last few years is you’ve got to follow you heart and do what makes you happy…cause you never know when it can all be taken away from you.”

“Dinner’s served,” Eliot called from the dining table. Quentin shot James a friendly smile and waved him through the glass door into the penthouse. 

“Mmmmm….smells delicious. What is it, El?” Fen asked as she sat down at the table. 

“It is Cornish game hens…like chickens, but smaller…mashed potatoes, gravy, roasted vegetables, and for dessert I have tiramisu.”

“It looks amazing, Eliot,” James praised as he took in the food laid out on the table. “You do all this by hand? No magic?”

Eliot gave him a stern look, “That would be cheating. And anyway, magic’d food loses some of the taste, it doesn’t quite sit right on the palette. Besides…I love a good challenge.”

“I mostly do takeout. It’s just me so…it’s not really worth it to learn I guess.”

Quentin gave him a soft smile, “It’s worth it if you think you’ll enjoy it. I’m learning a bit. El’s teaching me…I know some stuff, bread and broth…but not modern techniques.”

“I never learned either,” Fen said to him, “I was more interested in my father’s business. He was a knife maker. I learned a lot about knives and how to use them and I really enjoyed it. I know enough about cooking to get by I suppose, but luckily I’ve never needed it too much. Living in a castle with servants helps a lot, I know.”

“No servants here, dear,” Eliot said sympathetically. 

James hummed in ecstasy around a mouthful of food and Quentin let out a laugh in response. “This is better than chicken,” Fen said with a little moan. Eliot’s smile could’ve lit the room

They chatted as they ate about Quentin and James growing up together. The conversation turned to what James remembered about Quentin’s dad, and what it was like studying at Quentin’s house when they were young. They talked about college dorms and dragging Quentin to parties for his own good. Julia trying to fix him up with every nerd girl she came across. Eliot scoffed, “If they could see you now, baby.”

“Bisexual, Eliot…Bi…it’s a thing…there were girls before you, you know…We’re having lunch with one tomorrow actually.”

Eliot waved his hand dismissively, “Distractions…you hadn’t discovered your true self yet.”

Quentin rolled his eyes and spoke placatingly, “Not entirely untrue…But…you know, you’re technically bisexual on some level as well so I don’t know why you have such a hard time with the concept. You’ve fucked women before,” He suddenly thought of Fen and looked nervously her way. She was smiling wickedly with her hand raised. Quentin brought a hand up to his face, “Sorry, Fen.”

She giggled and went back to her food with a wave of her hand. 

“Yes, but no one ever thought I was straight or tried to fix me up with girls…Except my homophobic father…and Fen’s father, but that was different.”

“Anyway…I did actually like a few of those girls Julia fixed me up with through college…So…bisexual.”

Eliot smirked at him wickedly. 

“Fuck my life,” Quentin said in disgust as he took a sip of wine. 

James looked between them and smiled. This seemed like an old argument, playful, only half serious. He wondered if it had something to do with how long it had taken them to get together as a serious couple. He looked at Fen, watching her sip the red wine with practiced grace and elegance. His curiosity got the best of him. “Fen, how did you actually meet these guys?”

Fen turned her wide eyed, open look on him and smiled, “Two questers from earth, who turned out to be Quentin and Julia, made a deal with my grandfather for a magical knife. Then they disappeared and the knife sat in our workshop for years and years. Then one day all of them showed up to pick up the knife. Of course, Quentin hadn’t realized what he’d promised, but I had grown up knowing that one day a high king from earth would come…and I would marry him. My father did a test to see which one of the questers it was.” Eliot raised his hand as Fen pointed to him dramatically.

“High King in his blood,” Quentin muttered under his breath. 

“So we got married that night. Then they went off to complete their quest and I went ahead to Castle Whitespire to inform them that the children of earth had come. And the rest…well, it went on from there. There’s a lot, but that’s the story of how we met.”

James narrowed his eyes as he looked between Eliot and Fen, “So are you two still…”

Fen and Eliot both shook their heads. “No. Not for a long time,” Fen said in a strong voice. 

“God no!” Eliot said at the same time. 

“As we have established, I prefer men…I’m afraid Fen and I weren’t compatible in the marriage department.”

Fen nodded, “It’s all worked out for the best.”

“But you still live in the castle?” James asked her. “Oh, I’m a queen now, independent and responsible for my own people. It’s very empowering. I’m the first Fillorian to be crowned royalty in the history of my country.”

James was stunned. He watched her more closely as they finished their dinner. He was struck by her self-assured manner. She was on a completely different planet than the one she called home, yet she seemed relaxed and comfortable with everything going on around her. She was laughing at something Quentin had said, and the light in her eyes was contagious. James found himself smiling too, though he honestly hadn’t heard a word his friend had said.


End file.
